If you don’t like mosquitos, but like tequila, then you should love bats.

I love being outdoors, but my love for one thing is taken over by my hate for another,
mosquitos. Not only are they buzzing around me while I am outside, even when I am
inside they still seem to be bothering me with the little, itchy, red dots they have
managed to leave behind. If you haven’t noticed already, the population of mosquitos
has been increasing. One of the reasons for this increase is due to the decrease in
bats. Bats are known to eat over one million insects a year, mosquitos make up many
of those meals.

So now that we know why we need bats for controlling the mosquito population, how
do bats relate to tequila? Mexican long-tongued bats are the primary pollinators of
agave, the plant tequila is made from. The species is already considered endangered
in the US and if it becomes impacted by WNS … with a decrease in bats, it will cause
an increase in price for tequila. Imagine what your life would be without margaritas!

White Nose Syndrome is caused by a fungus that infects sleeping bats in their winter
hibernacula. Credit: Shelly Colatskie/MDC

So why are all these bats dying? It's because of a disease called white nose syndrome
(WNS). White nose syndrome has spread across 30 states in the US within the last 10
years, Michigan being one. In 2014, WNS hit 11 northern counties in Michigan and has
been spreading since. So far six species of hibernating bats in the US have been documented
with WNS, and another 19 are at risk.

This disease is caused by a white fungus that grows in the nose and wings of hibernating
bats, making them look like they have a white nose, hence the name. During the winter
many bats hibernate and need to use their fat reserves wisely. When a bat is infected
with WNS it causes erosion of their wings, and an increase in the carbon dioxide in
the bat’s blood, causing dehydration. The increase in carbon dioxide wakes the bat
up from hibernation and causes them to use up their fat reserves quicker. The more
severe the disease, the more frequent the arousal. Eventually the bat will become
dehydrated, their fat reserves will run out and they will die.

There is currently no treatment for bats infected with WNS, so the best thing humans
can do is try to prevent spreading it. Bats are infected by coming in contact with
the fungus. So this could be just bat-to-bat contact, or the fungus being on the walls
in mines and caves. To help stop the spread, anyone entering a mine or a cave should
clean their equipment, clothing and shoes before and after entering. Saving the bats,
means that you are saving tequila.

Little brown bats, common in the Keweenaw, have been one of the hardest hit species
by White Nose Syndrome. Credit: Ann Froschauer/USFWS

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than
7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than
120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering,
forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and
social sciences. Our campus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway
and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.

White Nose Syndrome

Biologists discovered WNS in the Keweenaw in late winter during 2014. Some bat colonies
in the northeast US have experienced die-offs in excess of 90 percent; the eastern
and southern US have been hit the hardest and more than five million bats have died
from the disease. Massive die-offs have occurred in the Keweenaw, though there was
too little information on original population numbers to understand the full impact
of WNS.

Last winter, the Pseudogymnoascus destructans fungus was found in Texas. No reports of the disease